X Factor 2015: Olly Murs says sorry for gaffe - but will he be fired? Plus 6 things we learned

Monica Michael and Max Stone were voted off on Sunday night, but Olly Murs was
the real flop, says Isabel Mohan

By Isabel Mohan

4:30PM GMT 17 Nov 2015

Murs apologises

The presenter said he was a "plonker" after he told contestant Monica Michael that she was going home before the result was officially announced.

After the show, Murs tweeted: "I apologise to everyone tonight I made a massive f--k up at the end. It was so tense!! I'm still learning & hope that never happens again!"

Murs' mistake in the results show comes after Judges' Houses went live for the first time in the show's 11-year history last month - proving to be a ratings turn-off for viewers.

Can Olly Murs keep his job?

You had one job, Olly, one job. We were always dreading Flack and Murs taking over from Dermot O'Leary - we knew they wouldn't be able to hack it live on primetime telly. Dermot could build up tension. Dermot could read autocues. Dermot could speak properly with no lazy talk of "the bottom free".

And, most of all, DERMOT DIDN'T TELL PEOPLE THEY'D BEEN VOTED OFF BEFORE HE WAS SUPPOSED TO! Poor Monica Michael had her dreams shattered in the most casual fashion as TV's biggest plonker Olly muttered that she was going home, before he and Caroline had been handed the envelope containing the top secret result. What an absolute shambles.

5 things we learned from Sunday's X Factor

1. Is Mason Noise this year's dark horse?

Mason Noise was favourite to leave tonight, but he sailed through - there were only nine acts left, and since he wasn't in the bottom three, that means he's in the top six. Yeah, we did the math(s). Who's voting for this deluded chump?

2. When Harry met Caroline

Damned contractual obligations, eh? Of the (hopefully) several million people watching X Factor tonight, at least 98 per cent were just in it for One Direction, while the remaining 2 per cent are illegally streaming in the Philippines in support of 4th Impact.

Unfortunately, One Direction looked like they would rather have been pretty much anywhere else - especially Harry Styles, whose ex-fling Caroline Flack was on presenting duties, if that's what you can call it.

3. Has Anton Stephans lost his mojo?

During the audition stages, Anton Stephans seemed like one of the most promising acts in the competition, with his spectacular singing voice and GSOH. According to reports last week, he'd been soaring ahead in the phone votes too.

This week, though, despite doing a much better job of I Have Nothing than he did of All About That Bass the previous week, he found himself in the bottom three. We'd like to see him making a zingy comeback next week with a cool but appropriate song choice, and a little less hamming it up on stage.

4. We've forgotten about Max Stone already

The trouble with double eliminations is that the first act to be voted off each week fades into obscurity even faster than they would in normal circumstances. Last week, everybody was so shocked about Seann Miley Moore leaving that Kiera Weathers was immediately obliterated from their memories like a bad sequel to Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.

It's the same story this week. Sure, there's a niggling ukulele sound looping around the back of our minds, but otherwise Max Stone just sounds like the name of a particularly masculine razor.

Instead, this will be remembered as the week that Monica Michael went home, and Olly Murs messed it all up.

5. Monica made a boo-boo too

Given that Monica Michael had to change her song at the last minute in light of the horrific events in Paris (she was supposed to be performing Bang Bang, from Pulp Fiction), why-oh-why did she shriek "Class of 2015 X Factor, bang bang bang!" at the end of the show?

Sure, she was probably just being all urban 'n' norf London 'n' that, but seriously - think, woman, think! Understandably, her insensitive choice of exclamation has angered a few people on Twitter. On balance, though, she's still less of a numpty than Olly Murs.

The results are in

Caroline Flack says they've received over 2.5 million votes this week which is quite impressive, unless it was just Mason Noise's auntie ringing up 2.5 million times.

Now we're going to find out who's safe. It's the usual drill, with whoever comes bottom of the phone vote leaving straight away, with the other two least-loved competing in a sing off.

The votes are being counted, and One Direction are performing

Olly Murs is scurrying backstage to count the phone votes by hand (you book a sub-standard presenter, you get your money's worth) and finally the reason more than two people are actually watching tonight is happening: One Direction are performing live in the studio.

The song has soppy lyrics about being "perfect for you" as well as some naughty stuff involving hotel rooms and car windows. This is to signify that they've matured after all that freckles business from a couple of years ago.

They're here to show the acts that, even if they don't win, one day they too could have silly hair, bad tattoos and multiple stalkers.

Harry Styles is wearing a pussy bow, perhaps to remind us all of the obscene thing he said to Matt Cardle all those years ago (Google it).

Despite saying they're excited to be here, none of them seem very excited to be here. Caroline Flack, who famously dated Harry Styles when she was 103 and he hadn't been born yet (or something), seems to be keeping her distance.

Jess Glynne fills the pre-One DIrection abyss

Jess Glynne's voice is piped around shopping centres constantly, but personality-wise she's a bit of a mystery. When she helped Cheryl F-V out at Judges' Houses, the groups just looked confused that she wasn't Nicola Roberts.

Still, her performance of some slightly sad song or other is perfectly pleasant. And there are twinkly stars behind her, which says "it's nearly Christmas, kind of, ish" even more than the Coca Cola truck, so that's nice.

Ran excitedly into the room when #XFactor was on because I thought they said the special guest was Jeff Lynne, but it was Jess Glynne.

All four members of 4th Impact are present for the group song

Celina's obviously been on the Berocca, then. This week, the ensemble are performing What A Feeling, from Flashdance, in keeping with the Movie Week theme. It's even cheesier than one might imagine.

Here comes the results show

After tonight, only seven acts will remain, which is quite efficient and/or brutal considering we're only three live shows in and there were 13 of them originally. It almost makes up for the never-ending hell that was the all-new 72 stage boot camp.

Obviously now we've got 40-odd minutes of recaps, promotional material and clumsy reading-out of phone numbers to get through. After sleeping on it and mulling it over with a small glass of wine, our bottom three prediction is... Max Stone, Mason Noise and Monica Michael, with Monica and Max going home due to the judges incorrectly believing Mason is like so relevant right now, or something.

We're probably wrong.

If Rita Ora was in a wedding dress last night, tonight she's sneaking around naked but for the best man's jacket.

"We. Are. Live." Yes you are, Caroline and Olly. So when you cock up there's one big drawback: We. Really. Notice. #XFactor

Nobody cares about the result. Everybody cares about One Direction

At least, that's the case on Twitter where there's ***MASS HYSTERIA*** over the boy band performing on tonight's show (we would embed the tweets in question, but only dogs can hear them).

A performance from the world's biggest boy band should certainly help the show out in the ratings, which is much-needed. Remember when genuine megastars performed every week, rather than Jess Glynne et al?

Remember when Dermot O'Leary presented, instead of the disaster zone that is Flack and Murs?

At this rate soon we'll be getting nostalgic for Stereo Kicks.

Here's your pre-results show recap

Not long now until two more unlucky aspiring singers (or, indeed, groups) get the chop from X Factor – and it’s not looking good for Mason Noise.

The cocky R&B singer performed Will Smith’s Men In Black on last night’s movie-themed live show and, while there was nothing massively wrong with his effort, rivals like Ché Chesterman and Lauren Murray are clearly far more talented, not to mention warmer and more likeable.

Mason’s now the bookies’ favourite to be voted off tonight – but since there’s yet another double elimination looming, he’s likely to be sharing a cab home with Max Stone following his dreary interpretation of Bruce Springsteen’s Secret Garden.

The thing is, though, all of this could be absolute rubbish – nobody thought that Seann Miley Moore would be voted off last week, but off he went. While surely the likes of Louisa Johnson are safe, middling acts like Monica Michael and Anton Stephans will be feeling nervous.

We’ll also be keeping a close eye on 4th Impact tonight – the hugely popular (if the Telegraph comments box is anything to go by…) Filipino girl band, otherwise known as Cheryl Fernandez-Versini's "dollies", put in an energetic performance of Beyonce’s Work It Out last night.

A little too energetic, it turned out, since one of the sisters, Celina, almost collapsed on stage after being taken ill earlier in the day. It would be nice if Celina allowed herself to have a nice lie-down tonight rather than bothering with the terminally painful group performance.

We’ll be following all the action here live tonight when the show starts on ITV at 8pm. As well as the big double elimination, One Direction will be performing in the studio, a fact that is sure to give the show a much-needed ratings boost (Jess Glynne’s appearance, not so much. Lovely as she is, she’s basically a permanent fixture on daytime TV).

Saturday night's highlights: 9 things we learned

1) Simon Cowell's more sensitive than we thought

Out of respect for France, two unfortunate song choices were changed at the last minute. Instead of Licence To Kill, Lauren Murray performed an Ariana Grande song. And, rather than Bang Bang, Monica Michael did What Is Love. Neither of the songs were from films, it didn't matter, both girls did a brilliant job under the circumstances, and it would be plain mean to vote either of them off.

2) Lauren Murray might just win

Well, Lauren won't be voted off any time soon anyway - not only is she one of the strongest singers in the competition, but she actually has a personality too. Brassy, gobby and fun, we can totally see her on the cover of heat magazine whether she makes it as a singer or not.

Louisa Johnson, on the other hand, is talented and sweet but a little vanilla in comparison, even if she did somehow move Rita Ora to tears tonight with her version of Everybody's Free (To Feel Good). Both girls effortlessly belt out the ballads, but is there room for them both for much longer?

3) 4th Impact don't know when to stop

When Celina from 4th Impact was taken ill in rehearsals, she was given the option not to perform on the live show. But, she went ahead anyway, and it was clearly a mistake. She didn't need a chair and a bottle of water, she needed a bed and a Lemsip.

There's professional and there's plain silly - are this lot a little too determined to win? And is there a pushy mom-ager type behind them by any chance?

4) The world needs Reggie 'n' Bollie

The Ghanaian duo formerly known as Menn On Point seemed like a ludicrous choice for the live shows, but now we can see that there was method to Cheryl F-V's madness. There are so many ballad-mongers in this show that man, it needs livening up - and tonight, with their bouncy performance of Who Let The Dogs Out, they did just that.

Like Jedward and Same Difference before them, this pair are firmly aimed at very young children with no music taste what so ever. We'd much rather watch them than the likes of Max Stone and his dreary Bruce Springsteen cover (at least there was no ukulele this week, though).

5) Olly Murs and Caroline Flack are still awful

And no embarrassing show-mance is going to change that.

6) There's another double elimination tonight

Another week, another double elimination - we're only three weeks into the live shows but, by this time tomorrow, there will only be seven acts left out of the original 13.

We have a feeling Mason Noise and Max Stone could be next for the chop, but we never thought in a million years that Seann Miley Moore would go home last week, so we're probably as wrong as Rita Ora's stylist.

Saturday night's highlights

Ché doesn't do duff performances

We thought When A Man Loves A Woman was a bit of a boring, old-fashioned choice for Ché Chesterman but, of course, he made it quite something.

"I've started to secretly fancy Ché-Ché!" declares Rita Ora. Run for the hills, Ché...

Let's put it out there some more: Ché, Lauren and Reggie 'n' Bollie will be in the final, with a shock exit from Louisa and/or 4th Impact in the semis. We look forward to eating our words, along with a mince pie and some cheap Advent calendar chocolate, some time in mid-December.

Lauren "nails" her last-minute song

Professionally perky Lauren Murray had to change her song, Licence To Kill, at the last minute too, so instead she's singing Ariana Grande's One Last Time which doesn't appear to be from the movies but, again, she can be let off.

"You nailed the song," says Simon Cowell. "Congratulations."

Lauren's been a little bit overshadowed by Louisa when it comes to X Factor girls this year but this here live blogger is going to put it out there: she's better, more likeable and more likely to win.

And if Louis Walsh was here, he'd tell her she reminded him of a young Catherine Zeta Jones.

It's all a bit much for 4th Impact

4th Impact's performance of Beyonce's Work It Out has been a little overshadowed by one of them, Selena, almost collapsing. She clearly shouldn't really be on stage tonight; someone get the poor sausage a onesie, a sofa and a packet of Hob Nobs, asap.

Anton's doing proper singing this week

After last weekend's All About That Bass debacle (he still came top of the phone vote though, according to leaky types), Anton Stephans is determined to show off that he can actually sing this week. A little too determined - his version of Whitney Houston's I Have Nothing was extremely OTT. As Nick Grimshaw said, it was all a bit too musical theatre.

"You are very over the top, but that's what I like about you," says his mentor Simon Cowell. Yup, he's certainly the opposite of Simon's other act, Max Stone.

Seriously Nick Grimshaw? I challenge you to do EIGHT SHOWS A WEEK in the West End. Stop slagging off musical theatre. jeez. #xfactor

Shall we just let Reggie 'n' Bollie win now?

We scoffed when Cheryl picked the duo from Ghana for her final three but they genuinely are livening up one of the most boring X Factor runs ever, so perhaps she knows what she's doing after all. Can they sing? No! Do we care? No! The last thing we need is another X Factor winner who takes music seriously. Let's just rush out a Reggie & Bollie kids album in time for Christmas and we can all go home.

"We need you!" says Cheryl, and she's right. Who wants to watch eight ballads in a row? In fact, can we get them to present the thing as well?

I can honestly say that, this week, I cannot wait for those two lads to get on that stage and liven things up. #xfactor

Monica's improved on last week

Monica Michael was supposed to be singing Bang Bang, from Pulp Fiction, an unfortunate choice given the horrifying events in Paris. Instead, she's doing What Is Love which, according to Google, was in Empire - a TV show, not a film, but perfectly acceptable under the circumstances.

She's pulled it off. It's a lot better than when they trussed her up in sequins and made her sing Beyonce last week.

Future nation's sweetheart Louisa Johnson is next to perform

Louisa's version of Everybody's Free (To Feel Good) from Baz Luhrmann's Romeo & Juliet is quite lovely, but she does have a tendancy to over-do it with the warbling.

"I wanna get up there and squeeze you," says Cheryl. Bit weird, but better than her banging on about "light and shade" again.

Louisa's having a little cry, which is going to ruin her nice sparkly eyeshadow.

Oh man, now Rita Ora's crying too. Simon Cowell will probably accuse them of being hormonal.

Max Stone is tackling Springsteen

The good news is, Max Stone hasn't been infused with reggae vibes this week. The bad news is, his Bruce Springsteen cover (Secret Garden) feels terribly worthy and serious. What is this, The Voice?

Mason Noise is first to perform

Mason Noise is tackling Men In Black, from the film of the same name. It's pretty lack-lustre, but clearly the judges are hearing something we're not. Rita Ora reckons it'll keep him out of the bottom three of doom and Nick Grimshaw "loved it". What?! It was rubbish!

"In pop music, cockiness is good and arrogance is good," says Simon Cowell, and he should know.

He looks like a mischievous page boy at a wedding, not a secret agent. #xfactor

New songs for Monica and Lauren in light of the events in Paris

Simon Cowell has announced that Monica and Lauren's song choices have been changed at the last minute. Monica was supposed to be singing (Bang Bang) My Baby Shot Me Down, while Lauren was due to perform Licence To Kill.

What's this about the winner's song?

It's true: the winner's song has been chosen. Dylan fans, consider this a warning - Simon Cowell has decided that the 2015 X Factor winner will tackle Bob Dylan's classic Forever Young.

According to The Sun, Cowell's made yet another controversial decision for this year's competition: "Simon is aware that the song choice will split opinion. Some will argue he is introducing Bob and the song itself to a new, younger audience. But arguably the majority will feel the opposite.

“Bob stands for everything that The X Factor does not, which means hearing the track will be tough for many musos to go through."

If this is an attempt to keep X Factor in water cooler conversation, it just might work. Leonard Cohen and Jeff Buckley fans still haven't gotten over Alexandra Burke's cover of Hallelujah from 2007.

Has this year's competition been a success or a failure?

The X Factor lives in interesting times. It's coming second in the ratings to the more glittery Strictly Come Dancing, its own channel has bought the rights to rival singing contest The Voice and the guru himself, Simon Cowell, has been reduced to asking fans on Twitter for suggestions on how to improve the show.

However, it is still the biggest music show on TV and a handful of the acts still left in this year's competition could feasibly be big stars (Louisa Johnson, Che Chesterman, 4th Impact). One of them, whoever turns out to be the outright winner, is almost certain to end the year with a Christmas No.1 single to their name. After two weeks of double eliminations we are now down to the final nine acts and, as last week's surprise result has shown, no one is safe...